Going out in style

It was senior night, Folarin Campbell's 22nd birthday, Will Thomas broke the record for games started and a victory that earned the Patriots a first round bye in the CAA tournament and sole possession of second place in the standings. All around a pretty good night, capped off with an emphatic dunk by Campbell in the closing seconds. It was a typical home win for the Patriots, a close first half then an explosion of energy and three point shooting in the second, ending with four players in double figures. Basically the exact opposite of how Mason plays on the road. Campbell and Vaughan finished with 17 and 15 respectively and Big Willie Style added 10 with 8 rebounds. David Schneider of the Tribe almost spoiled senior night with his three...

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Ode to the Seniors

What a run these seniors have given us. With all that has gone on this season, they have still given us memories and accomplishments that might never be matched again. Mason could win a national championship ten years from now but no one will ever forget the improbable Final Four appearance in 2006. As Will Thomas, Folarin Campbell, and Jordan Carter play their final home game tonight (barring any NIT home game action) I think I won't be the only one who is not quite ready to see these guys go. And that is why I am not holding my head in my hands after some the team's recent losses. Last year Mason came out of the 5th seed to reach the CAA finals and this year we are in a much better position to do that again. You can read about how the...

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Bracketbusted

The George Mason Patriots dropped an important non-conference road game yesterday after holding a 13 point lead at the half. Sound familiar? The woes on the road this season have been the dagger that killed Mason's at-large hopes. Some say this was the final blow to their resume but I say it happened a while ago. Not only did the Patriots blow a double digit halftime lead they also allowed 50 points in the second from the Bobcats after they only managed 19 in the first. After a smothering defensive effort and shooting over 60% in the first half the Patriots came out flat missing their first 5 shots to the start the second in which they shot below 30%. What happened to the squad we saw earlier in the season where 5 players would finish in...

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Larranaga earns no. 400

All you could hear was the chanting of "Larr-a-nag-a" through out the arena Wednesday night as the old coach notched his 400th win. And earned this on the same night as undefeated Memphis head coach John Calipari I might add. It was a less dramatic win with maybe only 4,000 or so fans witnessing it but it was an impressive defensive and rebounding night for the Patriots. Mason out rebounded the Blue Hens 37-29, an area that has been a problem all season. Will Thomas scored 18 of his 24 in the second half. Wow we really could have used a second half like that from him when we previously played these guys on the road. Folarin Campbell continued his impressive play scoring 19 and Louis Birdsong finally grabbed a couple rebounds instead of fouls....

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Fight til the end

Lost in the homecoming letdown and Bracketbuster game looming this weekend is the fact that the Patriots host Delaware tonight. Mason will try to secure a first round bye in the CAA tournament by staying in the top four of the conference standings. No easy task for these Patriots as they have endured an up and down season to say the least. The one constant on the year being that forward Will Thomas is hands down the conference Player of the Year, I don't care if Agudio drops 40 points in every last game remaining. Thomas, by the way is 8th in the nation in field-goal percentage and 14th in rebounding. The Patriots are currently tied with UNCW for second place but they have the tie-breaker over us. ODU and William & Mary are still just a game behind just waiting to cause us fans more...

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Heart break at Homecoming

Homecoming seemed to be going great, drinking was allowed back in the parking lots for tailgating, everyone and their mother was there sporting their Mason pride. Then TJ Carter just had to sink that lay-up at the buzzer to end the game and hopes of a sold out Mason crowd who now are rooting for a third place team. I just knew TJ Carter and Chad Tomko would have big games. I can't believe Tomko is a freshman, kid was on fire. Our first home loss of the season and it had to come on homecoming, although with the amount of alcohol flowing I think some people are only realizing it this afternoon. It was a let down to say the least, Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell were on top of their games and even Jordan Carter who I recently just blasted...

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Shooter's Role

Mason continued it's streak of not losing back to back games this season with a road win over Towson last night. After the disappointing loss to ODU last week it's hard to get really excited about this but I will say this, Mason put on another shooting clinic last night from three-point land. Mason used the power of the three to secure sole possession of 2nd place in the CAA standings and made Saturday's homecoming match-up a little big more interesting. The Patriots sank 12 three-pointers and in the first half had a run of 7 in a row where we saw Vlad the Impaler even knock one down; that felt good to watch. What didn't feel good to watch was the free-throw shooting which percentage-wise was lower than our three-point shooting, are you kidding me? Dre Smith started off slow as usual but...

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Well at least they are on TV again...

Today it was announced that Mason's Bracketbuster game against Ohio will be played at 1 p.m. on ESPN2. It will be the fifth time this season that the Patriots will broadcast on ESPN2. Some would say this game is meaningless after the ODU loss on Saturday but I think it's still a game that will help prepare the team for that increasingly more important CAA tournament at the season's end. If we witness another road performance like we saw in Norfolk that will definitely tell us what kind of tournament we are gonna have in Richmond. Veterans like Folarin, Big Will, and Carter need to step up and right the ship for these remaining road games because at this point in the season the old ball coach has done all he c...

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Road Dogs

Mason basketball suffered another disappointing road loss most likely ending all the at large bid talk for the time being. Oh and by the way John Vaughan's knee is messed up again, that's right, the one he had surgery on two years ago. What was most disappointing about this loss to ODU was the fact that Folarin Campbell probably had one of his best performances since 2006, scoring a career-high 28. Campbell and Thomas seemed to be the only players that showed yesterday. Cam Long played 30 minutes and only mustered 3 points shooting 1 for 8 from the field. John Vaughan did not look himself at all and later we learned that he injured his bad knee late in the Drexel game. Dre Smith's wild shot selection continued and Jordan Carter was again a non-factor. Rebounding and defense was really...

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Patriots sweep Dragons

Coach Larranaga was not able to end his losing streak at UNCW this season but he did end his five year drought at Drexel. Mason has now won seven of their last eight games and are still currently breathing down VCU's neck for first place. Watch highlights of the game here, courtesy of ESPN 8 "The Ocho". Not to say Mason didn't have their usual struggles on the road, late in the game with less then six minutes remaining they found themselves in a tie ball game against a team they beat by 47 in November. Folarin Campbell, who has been on a tear lately, spurred a nine-point surge that ultimately led the Patriots to victory. I don't want to jinx it but I think it's time I officially let Folarin out of the doghouse. I had been unhappy with his wild inconsistency and disappearing acts in early...

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On to Drexel

The Patriots travel to Philly tonight to face the Drexel Dragons and are looking to continue their dominate play in the conference. Rumor has it John Vaughan got a little nicked up in practice and had his arm in a sling earlier this week. Recently he was at practice without it and expects to play tonight but not start (due to team rules, no practice no start). I would expect Cam Long to possibly enter the starting lineup tonight and see increased minutes, something I think we all enjoy seeing. Last time Drexel and Mason played it got ugly real fast for the Dragons and I can expect nothing less this time around especially with the Dragons not playing any better currently then they did back in November in Fairfax. An interesting thing to watch for in this game is to see if Folarin can continue...

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Mason paired with Ohio in Bracketbuster event

The ESPN Bracketbuster match-ups were announced today and the Patriots will travel to Ohio University on February 23rd with a chance to add a quality road win to their resume. The tv schedule has not been announced yet but the Mason game will most likely be on ESPNU. Here is a head to head breakdown of the two teams and you can notice that the Patriots have the edge in every category except one. Ohio posts similar ranking numbers as the Patriots with an RPI currently at 51 and a SOS rank of 123. This event almost single handedly got Mason into the 2006 NCAA tournament with an impressive road win against Wichita State, can this year's game have similar resul...

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Patriots take down JMU in front of record crowd

Coach Larranaga earned his 200th victory with Mason in front of the biggest crowd in school history. The Patriots remain undefeated at home and have now won 6 of their last 7 games. Mason had control over James Madison for the entire game with great offensive efforts from Folarin Campbell (20 points) and John Vaughan (19). Campbell has started to become a constant threat for Mason on offense, which I think is something we fans have been waiting for all season. More importantly he was 3 for 3 from the three point line, a shame Dre Smith can't seem to find his touch from there lately. Jordan Carter played 20 minutes today and looked good despite only scoring 2 points. Carter didn't have any turnovers but the rest of the team committed 16, kind of a lot considering their margin of victory....

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What's up with Carter?

At first I thought Carter was just limited to playing time due to an ankle injury but seems like now there is more to the situation. The easy answer is you can't rush a guy back from injury, especially when his counterparts are playing well at his position. But lately his demeanor on the bench during games and frequent short outings on the court make me wonder if Carter is getting frustrated by guys like Cam Long and Folarin Campbell excelling in his absence. Last year Carter was THE ball handler for the Patriots and despite some questionable passes in zone coverage, he was solid at the position. Last season in the CAA tournament finals his injury forced Gabe Norwood to bring the ball up court and we all know how that ended. Why was he...

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